Message for THE LORD'S DAY EVENING, December 29, 2013 Christian Hope Church of Christ, Plymouth, North Carolina by Reggie A. Braziel, Minister TOPIC: New Year, God Trusting In Our Unchanging God ( A New Year's Message for 2014) Malachi 3:6 (NKJV) Please turn with me in your Bibles to our scripture text in Malachi chapter three, and let's read verse 6. Malachi 3:6 (NKJV) For I am the LORD, I do not change; Therefore you are not consumed O sons of Jacob. P R A Y E R >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Introduction This Wednesday will mark the beginning of a brand new year. Although, realistically we know there won't be any noticeable difference between December 31, 2013 and January 1, 2014, in our minds the beginning of the New Year will mark another milepost on our life's journey. Because none of us can predict the future, we have no way of knowing what lies in store for 2014. As the LORD said to Joshua as he prepared to lead the Israelites across the Jordan river into the Promised Land, For you have not passed this way before. 2014 is uncharted territory for us...we have not passed this way before.
If you are like me, you enter this New Year with anticipation and yet at the same time with lots of aprehension. In light of the dramatic changes we have seen take place in this country in recent years, one can't help but get a sense of uneasiness about what dramatic changes might lie in store in the coming New Year. But let me remind you, we are God's children, and as God's children we are NOT to live our lives in FEAR. The apostle Paul writes in I Timothy 1:7 (NKJV)... For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind. And remember Jesus' admonition to us in Matthew 6:34 (NKJV)... Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble. God would NOT have you and me to approach this New Year with fear and worry, but rather He would have us to approach this New Year with complete faith and trust in OUR UNCHANGING GOD! Let me briefly share with you THREE THINGS WE CAN TRUST IN FOR THE COMING NEW YEAR.
First of all... I. In This New Year We Can Trust In GOD'S UN-CHANGING PERSON 1. In our scripture text God reveals to the prophet Malachi this indesputable truth about Himself... For I am the LORD, I do not change. 2. People change...places change...products change... I change...you change...we all change. BUT GOD NEVER CHANGES! JAMES 1:17 (NKJV) Every good and perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, (now listen) with Whom there is no variation or shadow of turning. (What James is saying is that GOD doesn't change like the shifting shadows. He is always the same.) PSALM 102:27 (NKJV) You are the same,, and Your years will have no end. HEBREWS 13:8 (NKJV) Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever.
3. I take great comfort in knowing that GOD NEVER CHANGES, don't you? But do we fully comprehend what it means? (a) For one thing, it means THE ESSENCE OF GOD NEVER CHANGES. The scriptures teach us that GOD IS SPIRIT SPIRIT.. He is not flesh and bones like you and me, GOD IS A SPIRITUAL BEING. (John 4:24) The scriptures also teach us that GOD is three persons in one: He is GOD the Father, GOD the Son, and God the Holy Spirit.. (Matthew 28:19) I admit, in my limited human mind, I don't fully understand GOD'S three- fold Being, nor can I adequately explain it. But I believe in what the the scriptures say about this being GOD'S ESSENCE and HIS ESSENCE never changes. There never has been, nor will there ever be a time when GOD THE FATHER, GOD THE SON, AND GOD THE HOLY SPIRIT ceases to exist. GOD'S ESSENCE NEVER CHANGES! (b) THE NATURE OF GOD NEVER CHANGES. The scriptures teach us that GOD is a kind...loving...caring... compassionate...patient...merciful...gracious... forgiving GOD! And His nature never changes! GOD'S NATURE is never altered or effected by our behavior. You and I can never fail so miserably that GOD ever stops loving us or caring for us. We can never push God's buttons so much that He ceases to be patient, merciful and forgiving. There is NOTHING we can do to change God's nature. HIS NATURE NEVER CHANGES!
(c) THE POWER OF GOD NEVER CHANGES. ` Zephaniah 3:17 (NKJV) The LORD your GOD is in you midst, a mighty one Who will save. Matthew 19:26 (NKJV) But Jesus looked at them and said, With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible. Ephesians 6:10 (NKJV) Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. AGE nor TIME has weakened or diminished GOD'S power. God is just as powerful today as He was the day He spoke the universe into existence. He is just as powerful today as He was the day He rolled back the Red Sea. He is just as powerful today as He was the day He formed the mountains with His hands and dug the mighty rivers with His finger. GOD'S POWER HAS NOT CHANGED! (d) THE WISDOM OF GOD NEVER CHANGES. PSALM 33:11 (NKJV) The counsel of the LORD stands forever. COLOSSIANS 2:3 (NKJV) tells us that all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge are hidden in both the Father and His Son Jesus Christ. God's mind hasn't slipped over the course of time. He hasn't become forgetful or senile. God's mind is still just as sharp and clear as it was the day He laid the foundations of the world. GOD'S ESSENCE NEVER CHANGES! GOD'S NATURE NEVER CHANGES! GOD'S POWER NEVER CHANGES! AND GOD'S WISDOM NEVER CHANGES
Yes, In This New Year We Can Trust In GOD'S UN-CHANGING PERSON! Secondly... II. In This New Year We Can Trust In GOD'S UN-CHANGING PROMISES Number 23:19 (NKJV) God is not a man, that He should lie, nor a son of man, that He should repent. Has He said, and will not do? Or has He spoken, and will He not make good? II Peter 1:4 (NKJV) tells us tells us WE HAVE BEEN GIVEN THE EXCEEDINGLY GREAT AND PRECIOUS PROMISES OF GOD THROUGH WHICH WE CAN BE PARTAKERS OF THE DIVINE NATURE. 1. We cannot trust in man's promises. Our president promised us If you like your health insurance you can keep it. That turned out to be a lie. Our president promised, If you like your doctor, you can keep your doctor. That too turned out to be a lie. 2. God has never made a promise He didn't deliver on. He has never promised something one day, and renigged on that promise the next day. 3. In many ways the ancient Israelites paralleled what we are now experiencing in the United States. POLITICALLY POLITICALLY they had some really good, God-fearing Kings and they had some lousy, godless, corrupt Kings.
ECONOMICALLY ECONOMICALLY Israel enjoyed some times of great prosperity and they suffered through times of economic despair and poverty. There were times when the ISRAELITES enjoyed PEACE and there were times when it seemed THE WARS would never end. There were times when the ISRAELITES were FREE and there were times when they were in BONDAGE to their enemies. There were times when they enjoyed RELIGIOUS FREEDOM and there were times when their RELIGIOUS FREEDOMS were taken away from them. 4. And through all those changes, THE PROMISES OF GOD never changed. The fact that the Jewish race has survived even to this day, and that Israel has been re-established as a nation, tells us GOD HAS BEEN FAITHFUL TO KEEP HIS PROMISE THAT HE MADE TO ABRAHAM THOUSANDS OF YEARS AGO. 5. If we continue on the path we are currently on as a nation, I believe we can expect some very difficult times ahead as a nation. And especially for those of us who are God's people. I personally believe the removal of prayer and Bible study from our schools, and the banning of public displays of a cross or the Ten Commandments, is just the tip of the ice berg for what's coming ahead. 6. But as I said earlier, we are not to live our lives in fear or worry about what's going to happen to us. We must TRUST IN THE UN-CHANGING PROMISES OF GOD.
7. GOD has promised that He would never leave us or forsake us. (HEBREWS 13:5) GOD has promised that He would provide all our needs through His glorious riches in Jesus Christ. (PHILIPPIANS 4:19) GOD has promised that nothing, not even death itself, will ever be able to separate us from His love that is in Christ Jesus. (Romans 8) GOD has promised to work all things together for our good, no matter how bad things get here in America. (Romans 8:28) GOD has promised to deliver us from every evil attack made against us and safely deliver us into His eternal kingdom. (II Timothy 4:18) GOD has promised to keep us from falling and to present us before His glorious presence without fault and with great joy. (Jude verse 24) 8. Regardless of what this New Year may bring WE CAN TRUST IN THE UN-CHANGING PROMISES OF GOD to see us through. WE CAN TRUST IN THE UN-CHANGING PERSON OF GOD. WE CAN TRUST IN THE UN-CHANGING PROMISES OF GOD. And finally...
III. In This New Year We Can Trust In THE UN-CHANGING PLAN OF GOD Job 42:2 (NIV) I know that you can do all things; no purpose of yours can be thwarted. Proverbs 21:30 (NIV) There is no wisdom, no insight, no plan that can succeed against the LORD. 1. As Christian Americans, we tend to have a very narrow view of God's plan. We tend to think of God's plan only in terms of how it impacts us here in America. But we must remember God's plans are bigger than any one nation. 2. GOD'S PLAN for the end of time is made very clear in the scriptures. GOD'S PLAN is to remove the Church and the restraining power of the Holy Spirit from the earth. GOD'S PLAN designates a seven year period of Tribulation with the last three and half years of that Tribulation being the most difficult period of time any man has ever had to endure. We know also that according to God's plan an evil world dictator known as the Antichrist will rise up and for a time rule the world. And we know God's plan is to one day destroy the Antichrist...to cast Satan into the eternal fires of hell...and to bring judgment upon every lost soul...and ultimately to establish the ETERNAL REIGN OF JESUS CHRIST over a new heaven and a new earth.
3. We must trust that everything that is going on in the world right now is in keeping with GOD'S PLAN. 4. We must trust that America's diminishing glory in the world is not an accident or that it is just a coincedence that a godless president now occupies the oval office. We must trust that America's economic woes and the rising hostility towards Christians in this country is no fluke or accident. 5. We must trust that everything is going according to GOD'S UN-CHANGING PLAN. >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> C O N C L U S I O N While we wish others a Happy New Year this week, may we do so with the sober awareness that we are steadily marching towards eternity. Each New Year...each passing day...each fleeting moment...is bringing us closer and closer to the return of Jesus Christ. May we not approach this New Year with fear or worry. Let us instead, TRUST IN GOD'S UN-CHANGING PERSON...TRUST IN GOD'S UN-CHANGING PROMISES...and TRUST IN GOD'S UN-CHANGING PLAN.